Anaplastic thyroid cancer is a rare form of thyroid tumor, but it is also the most deadly. Newly developed evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term monitoring and follow-up care of patients with this extremely aggressive form of thyroid cancer are published in Thyroid (http://www.liebertpub.com/thy), a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com). The Guidelines, prepared by the American Thyroid Association Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Task Force, are available free online on the Thyroid (http://www.liebertpub.com/thy) website.

Robert C. Smallridge, MD, Chair of the ATA Task Force, from the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, and coauthors of the "American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Management of Patients with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/thy.2012.0302)" emphasize the importance of rapid diagnosis and evaluation of this aggressive tumor, establishing treatment goals, and employing a multidisciplinary team approach for optimal patient management. The comprehensive Guidelines cover recommended approaches to treatment including surgery, radiotherapy, systemic therapy, and supportive care. They also offer guidance on managing patients with advanced/metastatic disease, surveillance and long-term monitoring, palliative care options, and ethical issues including end-of-life care.

"The American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Management of Patients with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer is a remarkable and comprehensive document that distills the literature and taskforce expertise into a useful guide for providers of patients with this aggressive cancer. The focused therapeutic approaches, as well as the inclusion of palliative care and ethical issues into this document, is a real advance for our field," says Bryan R. Haugen, MD, President of the ATA and Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Head, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes, Mary Rossick Kern and Jerome H. Kern Chair in Endocrine Neoplasms Research, University of Colorado School of Medicine.

"The Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Guidelines are a unique contribution to the endocrine literature," says Charles H. Emerson, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Thyroid and Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. "The Guidelines demand to be read now, not learned during the emergency that is anaplastic thyroid cancer."

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